The present invention relates to a glove box structure that supports a lid in an open position. The glove box structure includes arms for guiding the lid between a closed position and the open position, and clip members which engage beads in the arms to hold the lid in the open position.
A conventional automobile includes an instrument panel facing the front seats. A speedometer, fuel meter and the like are mounted in the instrument panel. A glove box is typically mounted in the instrument panel opposite the front passenger seat. The glove box includes a lid which closes over the glove box to prevent items placed inside the glove box from falling out. One type of prior art lid is mounted on the glove box by a hinge which connects an upper edge of the lid to an upper wall of the glove box. By this arrangement the lid pivots upwardly about its hinged upper edge when the glove box is opened.
One shortcoming of the prior art design is that the lid must be held open manually while placing objects into or removing objects from the glove box. In response to the shortcoming, other prior art glove box structures include wire springs in the hinge mechanism to bias the lid upwardly when the lid is in the open position.
Although the wire springs initially hold the lid in the open position, one shortcoming of the spring biased prior art design is that springs lose elasticity after repetitive use. Therefore, over time, the springs fail to hold the lid in the fully open position. As a result, even with spring bias, the prior art lid must be held open manually while placing objects into or removing objects from the glove box. As can readily be appreciated, manually holding the lid open makes depositing or removing objects more difficult. Furthermore, using strong springs is costly and time consuming.